April 2012 Volume 15 Number 2 - Educational Technology & Society

Median=18.86, Mean=20.00, SD=10.26. Gender equalization was measured by gender participation percentage (i.e.,
number of words expressed (said or written) by male/female participant divided by number of words of all group
members during the discussion; Caspi, Chajut, & Saporta, 2008). The quality of contribution to discussions for each
participant was assessed by average evaluation of four expert judges "blind" to the hypotheses (on a scale of 1 = "not
at all"; 5 = "very much", Median=3.00, Mean=3.01, SD=1.00); between-rater agreement coefficient Kendall's W=.70.
The evaluation of contribution was based on suggesting new ideas, definitions, focusing, and summarizing
discussions.
Procedure
Participants were randomly assigned to gender-mixed experimental conditions and conducted, in groups of five, two
short (average of 18.40 min.) non-moderated discussions on both low and high degree of topic sensitivity, 40
participants in each communication mode. Similarly to online natural discussions, each discussion in this study was
non-moderated and was terminated when the participants felt they fully expressed their opinion. The study did not
use the counterbalance procedure; instead, all groups discussed non-sensitive topic before the sensitive one.
Discussing the sensitive topic first could have left the participants exited and neutralize the difference between the
topics. Skype application was used for online discussions, either for text or audio chat. The discussions were
recorded, transcribed, and evaluated by four expert judges for the quality of contribution for each participant. The
amount of actual participation, as well as interpersonal and gender equality were calculated. The readiness to partake
in discussions was compared to the actual behavior of the participants.
Results
Effects of Media and Discussion Topic on Actual Participation
Table 6 shows the means and standard deviations for the amount of actual participation (number of words per
participant) in discussing non-sensitive and sensitive topics FtF, through audio and text chat.
Table 6. Means and SDs of Actual Participation by Topic and Medium
Topic ↓ Medium→ F2F (n=40) Audio (n=40) Chat (n=40) Total (n=120)
Non-sensitive M
150.63
154.90
109.45 138.33
SD
124.71
120.75
86.98 116.74
Sensitive M
281.73
273.55
138.05 231.11
SD
169.56
120.83
105.52 121.38
Total M
216.18
214.23
123.75 184.72
SD
116.82
108.92
87.47 100.40
Table 7 presents the analysis of variance for the effects of communication medium, discussion topic, and the
interaction between the two on the amount of actual participation in discussions.
Table 7. Effects of Medium and Topic on the Amount of Actual Participation
Effect F df p Partial � 2
Medium 5.29 2, 117